RWBY Sage
by Ragnurhelgon
Summary: Four outcasts strive for a better life at Beacon, unbeknownst to them, they would be set upon a different, more noble path.
1. Chapter 1

The weather was good, the sky was clear and blue, all of these things made it a good day for flying.

A Beacon airship flew through the skies. The airship full of older teens all looking to become successful Huntsmen and Huntresses.

A young teen stood among the others. He didn't stand out and had no real reason to draw attention to himself, except his reputation back at his combat school, signal academy.

This boy stood in front of a window and stared out at the clouds. His height was something else that normally caught people's attention. It was odd for a sixteen year old to still be five seven.

This boy wore headphones, the music was loud and drowned out the noisy teens behind him.

Two teens walked through the airship, one was tall and skinny, the other short and fat. They passed this child and immediately stopped. One of them, the taller one, pointed at him and they both started snickering. The two walked up to the boy.

"Hey!" The short one called, his tone cold and rough. "What are you doing here?"

The boy slowly turned around and drew his headphones from his ears. The boy stared at the two teens, his sky blue eyes shimmered when the lights hit them.

"What?" The boy asked.

"I said, how did you get in?" The short teen repeated.

"I dunno, I guess they just finally recognized my skill," The boy said, grinning.

The two teens looked at each other and smirked.

"Ha!" They both laughed.

The boy stopped grinning and glared at the two. "What's so funny?"

"You were joking right?" The tall teen asked, wiping a tear from his eye.

"I said what I said," The boy said confidently.

The two teens resumed their laughter.

"I guess you boys find skilled people funny… that or you saw your reflections," The boy smirked.

The two teens stopped laughing and looked at the boy with solemn faces.

"What did you say, runt?" The short teen asked, walking over to the boy.

"I just called you ugly," The boy said.

The taller teen also walked over to the boy and glared down at him.

"You guys better back off," The boy said.

The two teens looked at each other and nodded.

"Or what?"

The raised his hands and his green jacket began to glow white.

"Dust clothing?!" The short teen said with horror.

Both the teens slowly began to back up, the boy smirked and quickly moved his hands.

Tiny bolts of yellow lightning shot out of his hands and hit the two teens. The bolts did nothing but make their arm hairs stand up a bit.

The two teens looked at each other and smirked, they began laughing again.

Suddenly the boy tackled the short one and pinned him to the ground. The boy started slamming his fists into the short ones face.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A RUNT?! FATTY!" The boy screamed pounding his fists into the bloodied face of the older teen.

The taller teen rushed over and threw the boy off. The taller teen helped his short friend up to his feet.

The short teen wiped his bloody lip and glared at the boy.

"You're going to die now, Sage," The short teen huffed, pulling a revolver out.

The taller teen pulled out a mace. Sage started to back up from the two teens, he held up his hands and prepared to use his jacket.

"Hey!" A voice yelled.

The two teens looked over and saw a busty teenage girl walking towards them.

"You're lucky!" The short one pointed at Sage, before running off with the taller teen.

The girl rushed over to Sage. Sage and the girl were around the same height.

The girl waved, "Hi! I'm Yang, what's your name?"

"Lance!" Lance confidently pointed to himself and held his head high.

"How old are you?" Yang asked, confused by his height.

"Me? I am sixteen," Lance proudly said.

"And you are that short?" Yang questioned, tilting her head.

"Hey! I am five seven, that isn't short!" Lance protested, stomping his foot. "Just you wait, I will be six eight one day!"

Yang giggled at Lance's annoyance. Suddenly Yang remembered something. Yang turned to a crowd of people and reached into it. Yang pulled a girl out, Lance immediately noticed she was wearing a red cape.

Yang presented the red caped girl.

"This is Ruby, my sister," Yang gleefully said, pointing to her sister. Yang pushed Ruby forward and into Lance. "Ruby, Lance. There you go Ruby, plus one friend."

Ruby went to protest, but Yang hurriedly ran off and disappeared into a crowd. Ruby sighed and turned to Lance, who was just awkwardly swaying his hips back and forth.

"Well…. Hi I am Ruby!" Ruby nervously said.

"I know, your sister just told me."

"Oh….right," Ruby said, looking at the ground due to embarrassment.

Lance looked at the ground trying to find wait Ruby was staring at. Lance bent down and walked over to Ruby. Lance stuck his head under her's.

"You're kinda weird," Lance stated.

Ruby leapt back from surprise. Ruby began to blush.

"Well… I got moved up two years," Ruby quietly mumbled.

"So? I got moved up one year," Lance said, shrugging.

"Yeah, but I don't have any friends," Ruby mumbled.

Ruby and Lance stood silently, Ruby had no idea what to say and Lance didn't really want to talk to her. Lance did feel sorry for Ruby, he was always the social outcast in school.

"Well don't worry Ruby! Because I'll be your friend and one day I will be the strongest fighter in this school!" Lance grandly declared.

Ruby giggled and smiled at Lance.

"I'll look forward to that day," Ruby said, much to Lance's pleasure. "So what kind of a weapon do you have?"

Lance's blue eyes immediately widened at Ruby's question. The young teen developed a blush.

"I don't really have a weapon," Lance said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "But! I do have this jacket, it has dust sewn into it and allows me to use different elements."

"Ooh!" Ruby rushed over and started to examine the jacket. "How does it work?"

Lance shrugged, "It was my father's and I have no clue how it functions, with my father gone, I only had my mother to show me and well she passed away when I was ten."

Ruby immediately stopped talking, she didn't want to intrude.

"But enough about that, I think we are landing soon," Lance said

XXX XXX XXX

Lance and Ruby exited the airship together. As they walked a massive crowd of people rushed out of the airship.

Lance grabbed Ruby and pulled her out of the crowd's path.

Ruby looked up at Lance, she immediately noticed he had picked her up bridal style. Ruby developed a blush, she had never been this close to a boy before.

Lance shook his head disapprovingly at the crowd. Lance then gently set Ruby down onto her feet.

"Alright Red, you may want to go find your sister," Lance said. "I'll catch up with you at a later time."

Lance walked away and so did Ruby. Lance walked further into the courtyard. The young teen sighed and stretched a bit. Suddenly he felt a hand clap onto his shoulder.

Lance turned around to see a teen standing behind him. Lance scoffed and knocked his hand away.

"What do you want Bronze?" Lance asked, with spite.

"How have you been, it is really good seeing you again," Bronze cheerfully said.

"I hate you," Lance said, sighing.

"Nonsense, I have to say you are the most interesting fighter I have seen," Bronze said, with a smile.

"Really?" Lance asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I have never seen someone get absolutely destroyed and get back up, again and again," Bronze said.

"Oh," Lance said.

"How did someone of your skill even get into Beacon?" Bronze innocently asked.

"Well I…" Lance was cut off by an explosion.

Both Lance and Bronze turned to see what had caused the explosion. They both saw Ruby getting yelled at by a girl dressed in all white.

Lance rolled his eyes at the girls.

"I have to go," Lance said, walking away.

The girl in all white continued to scold Ruby. "You dolt! What is a kid even doing at a school designed to train people to fight monsters?"

"What's an uptight rich girl doing at a school designed to train people to fight monsters?" A voice said from behind.

Ruby peered over the girl's shoulder and saw Lance walking towards her. Ruby smiled at the sight of a friendly face.

The girl in white turned around and glared at Lance.

"How dare you!" She stomped foot.

"Ladies and Gentle, here we have the rare privileged rich person who thinks she is better than everyone!" Lance exclaimed.

"Why you rapscallion!" The girl shouted.

Lance looked over at Ruby and signaled for her to leave. Ruby silently tip toed away.

Weiss stormed over to Lance and put her finger in his face.

"Who do you think you are?" The girl asked, glaring at Lance.

"Me? My name is Lance Sage."

"And do you know who I am?"

"I don't care," Lance said, smiling.

"Ugh! Whatever!" the girl said, stomping her foot and walking off.

Lance smirked and walked off. The young teen quickly realized he was lost. Lance just walked towards the school, hoping to find where everybody went.

XXX XXX XXX

After a long day, arriving at Beacon, tangling with that rich girl and listening to the headmaster deliver his speech, Lance was ready for bed.

Lance was in a large room called the barn. Sleeping bags littered the floor around Lance, who was resting his head on his comfy pillow.

Suddenly Lance felt like he was being watched. Lance's eyes shot open and he quickly sat up.

A girl was standing next to his bag. Lance immediately noticed she wasn't alone. A large, burly, male stood next to the girl.

"Um...hi?" Lance said, unsure of how to act.

"You…" The girl paused, examining Lance. "Are that kid from signal, the one who always got beat up and told everyone that he would be the greatest."

"Name's Lance, nice to meet you too," Lance said, holding out his hand.

The girl slowly raised her hand and accepted his handshake. Lance broke the handshake and turned to the big male and offered his hand. The large teen just quietly stared at Lance.

"Sorry, this is Iron, my name is Silver," Silver said, gesturing to her friend. "Mind if we sleep near you?"

Silver gestured to the open space around Lance's sleeping bed.

"Sure," Lance answered.

Silver smiled at Lance and rolled her sleeping bed down, Iron did the same. The two quickly laid down and went to sleep.

Lance sighed and laid back down. Lance's head hit his comfy pillow. Lance quickly fell asleep.

XXX XXX XXX

The sun shined into large windows that littered the walls of the barn. Silver slowly opened her grey eyes. The girl sat up and yawned. Silver looked around her, Iron was awake and silently sitting on his sleeping bag, watching Silver.

"Jeez, has anyone ever told you that you are a creep?" Silver asked.

"My parents often remark about how odd it is that I tend to watch people when they are not conscious," Iron said, his voice monotone.

"Right… anyways lets go get ready for the day," Silver gleefully said.

Silver and Iron stepped over multiple sleeping bags and made their way towards the bathrooms.

Silver took note of exactly who was up, by the time her and Iron had made their way out of the barn, Silver had scanned the whole place.

"Silver?" Iron quietly asked.

"Yes big guy?" Silver looked at her friend.

"Why are you using your semblance?" Iron asked.

"I like to keep an eye out for anything odd," Silver honestly answered.

"Have you found anyone else who can do the same?" Iron asked.

"No, that Elder told me that I would meet someone who shared my semblance and we would become rivals, but he never told me who it was or when I would meet them," Silver said, sighing.

XXX XXX XXX

Lance sat in the locker room, he slowly gathered his thoughts. Lance was in full combat clothing, his olive green jacket was dimly flashing a white light.

Lance played around with some lightning dust. Lance didn't know why, but his jacket didn't require the same amount of dust that regular dust embedded clothes did.

Lance looked down at the lightning in his hands, he sighed and quietly whispered to himself, "Dad, why didn't you leave an owner's manual."

Lance heard Ruby's voice.

"Heya!"

Lance turned to the origin of the voice and Ruby was standing next to him. Her smiled beamed up towards him.

"Oh hey," Lance smiled back.

Ruby wouldn't stop smiling at Lance.

"Ready for the test?" She asked.

"Meh." Lance shrugged.

"Come on!" Ruby grabbed Lance's hand and pulled him away.

XXX XXX XXX

Lance stood on a pad, he was rubbing his shoulder. Lance swore Ruby pulled something in his arm. Ruby was standing giddly next to him, she was very happy to have made a friend.

All the first year students stood at the edge of a cliff.

Ozpin was giving some speech, but Lance had stopped paying attention. Suddenly someone got launched off the cliff and Lance snapped out of his daydream. Lance stared at the pad he was standing on with dread.

Suddenly Ruby got launched off and Lance was left to think about a strategy. Lance didn't think for long, he was launched from the cliff like the others.

Lance sailed through the air. He quickly neared the ground. As Lance flew into the trees, he grabbed whatever he could. Lance landed on his feet.

The young teen looked around. A teen walked towards him, Lance immediately recognized him.

"Bronze!" Lance shouted.

"Hey Lance, looks like we are partners," Bronze said.

"Alright, whatever that means," Lance said, shrugging.

"Come on, we need to find the relic," Bronze said, turning around to walk away.

Lance hurried after him. Lance quickly caught up, he walked by Bronze's side. Lance was still annoyed about being partnered up with his rival from Signal. Both males walked off deeper into the forest.

XXX XXX XXX

Silver hurtled towards the ground, her silver air flew above her head as she sped towards the ground. Silver landed on her legs, crushing the ground beneath her.

The young teen immediately pulled out her rifle. Silver sprinted up a tree and stood on a branch, she overlooked the entire forest through her scoop. Silver's grey eyes shined through the lens.

The girl immediately looked out for Iron, but she couldn't see him. Silver huffed and brought the scope off her eye. Silver leapt from the tree and landed softly on the ground.

The girl threw her rifle's sling over her shoulder. Silver started walking, using her semblance to keep an eye out for anyone. Silver's eyes were drawn to two males close to her.

XXX XXX XXX

On the edge of the cliff that overlooked the emerald forest, Glynda approached Ozpin. Both teachers were holding a data pad. Ozpin gazed down at his pad, which was monitoring Lance and Bronze.

Ozpin faced the edge of the cliff and Glynda neared from his behind.

"It seems that Lance has made his partner," Glynda said. "I don't know about that boy, he doesn't appear to be a fighter."

Ozpin took a swig of his coffee.

"Glynda, everyone has a gift. This boy might not be gifted in combat, but he has something better, he's driven!"

"That won't do him much good when a beowolf eats him," Glynda sneered.

"All of these students wait for success and skill to happen, but Lance makes it happen!" Ozpin explained.

Glynda sighed, "You have a lot of faith in the boy."

Ozpin turned around and stared at Glynda.

"If you ever had children you would understand," Ozpin said.

"Ha, I could never be a mother," Glynda said, chuckling.

"I could see you with a son or two," Ozpin said, smiling.

"If I had sons, both of them would have to be amazing, like real gods," Glynda joked.

Ozpin smiled at his co-worker and looked back down at his pad. Ozpin slowly brought his mug up to his lips, the headmaster took a small swig of the beverage.

XXX XXX XXX

Ruby and Weiss strolled silently through the emerald forest. Weiss was completely ignoring Ruby, who wasn't happy with her partner.

Ruby was thinking about her friend Lance. The girl wondered if he was doing well and if he had already gotten a partner. Ruby sighed, she would much rather be with him.

XXX XXX XXX

Lance and Bronze continued their walk through the emerald forest. Lance didn't know why, but he felt as though someone was watching them.

Bronze walked ahead of Lance. The sound of twig snapping and the rustling of leaves was all around them.

"Bronze?"

"I hear it too," Bronze said, stopping.

Suddenly a hail of bullets came from the bushes that surrounded Lance and Bronze. The bullets flew toward the two males, but Bronze tackled Lance to the ground.

Bronze pulled his sword out of its sheath. Bronze pressed a button on the hilt and the blade started to glow red. Bronze slashed the air in front of him and a blade of flame flew out of the blade.

The flame blade flew towards the bushes that the bullets originated from. The flames connected with the bushes and exploded. The bushes were set ablaze and smoke rose from the burning leaves.

Silver leapt from the torched bushes, her rifle aimed at the two males. Silver didn't waste a second and started unloading on the males.

Bronze blocked every bullet with his blade and Lance stood still, not knowing how he could help.

Bronze charged Silver, who didn't stop firing at him. Bronze blocked every bullet and he quickly reached Silver. Bronze started violently slashing at the girl.

Silver rolled back and pressed a button on her rifle. Suddenly the rifle morphed into a sword. Silver smirked at Bronze and charged him.

Silver and Bronze's blades clashed and they struggled against each other. Bronze pushed down against Silver's blade. Silver was struggling to keep her blade against Bronze's.

Suddenly Bronze felt something grab his shoulder. Bronze was suddenly pulled back and thrown away. Bronze flew back and collided with a tree, his limp body laid against the tree.

Silver smiled at the figure who had thrown Bronze, "Good job Iron."

Iron lips slowly formed a smile back at Silver. It was like Iron had never smiled before in his life.

"Let's go beat this punk, they said he was the strongest fighter in Signal," Silver said, walking towards Bronze.

Lance heard Silver's words and he snapped out of his daze. Lance glared at Silver and Iron.

"Excuse you," Lance quietly said, his voice full of anger.

Silver and Iron turned and faced Lance.

"Excuse me?" Iron asked, confused.

"Not you," Silver said. Silver stepped towards Lance. "What you want?"

"You are forgetting someone," Lance said, staring at the ground.

Silver rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Is it you?"

Silver waited for an answer, but Lance didn't speak.

"A little runt like you could never measure up to someone like Bronze."

Finally Lance had enough. The male raised his head and glared at Silver. Lance's jacket started to glow white.

Silver looked at Lance, she was confused.

"I thought he didn't have a weapon?" Silver said, aloud.

Suddenly Lance threw his hands forward and a massive torrent of wind came flying from them. Silver was sent flying back and she slammed into a tree.

Lance grinned and charged Iron. Lance reached the large male and Lance slammed his fist into Iron's chest. Iron didn't even flinch, Iron bent down and grabbed Lance by his head.

"Heh, this was a bad idea," Lance nervously said.

Iron nodded in agreement. Iron picked Lance up and was about to throw him, but a fireball came flying towards him.

Iron released Lance from his hands, allowing Lance to fall to the ground. Iron spun to face the fireball and raised his arms. The ball of fire slammed into Iron's arms.

Suddenly Bronze appeared behind the fireball, he slashed Iron in his face. Iron was sent flying back and slammed through a tree.

Bronze dropped his arms to his side. He sighed and deactivated his aura. Lance came walking over to him, Lance had the biggest grin he had ever had in his life.

Bronze turned to Lance and smiled, "I knew you could do it!"

Suddenly Silver leapt toward the two males. Both Lance and Bronze frantically spun around to try and defend themselves, but they were too slow.

Silver's blade was millimeters from Lance's neck. Silver grinned at the male.

"You're lucky the two of you are cute," She purred, sheathing her blade.

Lance's eyes widened, they were full of anger.

"Why did you attack us?" Lance furiously asked.

Silver shrugged, "I was bored and needed a signal to get Iron over here quickly."

Lance rolled his eyes and turned around, he started walking away. Silver rushed after him. She started walking in front of him, looking back at Lance.

"Man we are going to make great friends… maybe lovers?" Silver said, nudging Lance.

"I'm good," Lance abruptly said.

Silver grinned, her eyes drifted to Bronze.

"What about you cutie?" She asked.

Bronze was about to answer, but he felt someone breathing on his neck. Bronze turned around and his eyes widened.

Iron was looming behind him, his eyes were wild and frantic.

"F-friends," Bronze nervously said.

Iron smiled and took a step a back, allowing distance between him and Bronze.

Silver shrugged and pointed ahead of her, "Temple ho!"

Silver rushed ahead of the three males, leaving them to frantically chase after her.

XXX XXX XXX

 **Well that was the first chapter of RWBY Sage. Sorry if I don't update this alot, I may be busy writing RWBY PR. Still don't know what the ships will be this time around, I don't know if I will ship anyone with Ruby this time.**


	2. V1 Ch2 Beacon Life

The sun slipped through the cracks of the crimson curtains that hung on the massive window of the dorm. The rays of sun that had slipped in shined down onto the faces of the dorm's team.

Lance slowly opened his eyes to the morning sun. Lance slept on the bed furthest to the left of the door. Bronze slept on the bed next to his, Iron next to Bronze's bed and Silver slept in the bed next to Iron's.

Iron and Bronze were out of their beds and getting dressed in the bathroom.

Lance slowly sat up, he looked around the room. Lance's shirtless chest attracted the attention of Silver, who was already up. The girl looked at her male teammate, she was very happy that she placed on a team with two decent looking guys.

"Heya handsome," Silver purred.

Lance gave her a confused look.

"Not as impressive as Bronze's, but you're cute," Silver said.

Lance rolled his eyes and swung his legs off his bed. Lance got onto his feet. The male walked over to his bag and grabbed his uniform. Lance looked back over at Silver, who was still staring at him.

"Are you still mad about how Bronze is our leader?" Silver asked.

Lance shrugged. "I guess."

Silver leapt off her bed and onto her feet. The girl stretched her arms and legs.

"Man I am liking Beacon already!"

Lance rolled his eyes and walked into the bathroom. Silver tried to follow him in, but Lance shut the door before she could enter.

The dorm had two bathrooms and both were being used. The door to their spare bathroom swung open and Iron and Bronze walked out. Silver cocked her head to look at her two teammates.

Both Iron and Bronze were in their uniforms. Silver rushed and grabbed her uniform, she then bolted into the bathroom.

The door to the other bathroom swung and out walked Lance. The male was adjusting his uniform. Lance looked at his uniform and shook his head in a disapproving way.

Bronze looked at his two teammates, "Ready to go to class?"

Silver swung the door to the bathroom open and strolled out. The three males looked over at her. Their eyes widened when they saw their teammate.

Silver was wearing the standard Beacon female uniform, but her skirt was three inches shorter than it should be. The skirt revealed a lot of her smooth legs.

Silver stared at her three teammates, she was puzzled at why they were staring at her.

"What is it?" Silver asked, looking behind her to make sure she wasn't missing anything.

The three males snapped out of the trance.

"Nothing!" All three quickly said.

Silver just shrugged and started pulling on her skirt, she shook her head. "I don't think they got my measurements right."

The three males avoided looking down.

"Ready for class?" Bronze asked, developing a blush.

"Yup!" Silver giddly said, walking for the door. Silver placed her hand on the handle and opened it. Silver walked out of the dorm.

Lance and Bronze looked at each other. Lance clapped his hand onto Bronze's shoulder.

"You might want to inform Glynda that our teammate doesn't have the proper fitting uniform," Lance said.

XXX XXX XXX

Professor Port was in the middle of teaching his lesson. Port paced back and forth telling one of his famous stories.

RWBY and JNPR sat in their seats, both teams were bored and not really paying attention.

Suddenly the doors were thrown open. Everyone in the class looked behind them at the doors.

BSIL came sprinting into the classroom. They were panting and breathing heavily. The team sprinted down to the only open seats, which were next to RWBY. Lance sat next to Ruby, Iron and Silver sat next to Lance, Bronze sat next to Silver.

Port stopped his story and looked at BSIL. "Ah BSIL, please try and be on time next class."

"Yes sir," Bronze said.

Port returned to his story, much to the dismay of the students. Lance in particular couldn't sit still. He started looking around for something to do or something to entertain him and his eyes landed on Ruby.

Lance nudged Ruby with his elbow and he quietly asked her a question, "Psst, how's your day been?"

Ruby smiled when Lance started to talking to her, she was still upset with Weiss not liking her and was happy to talk with a friend.

"Meh, I could be better," Ruby mumbled, shrugging.

"Aw, is little red not feeling well?" Lance teased.

Ruby begrudgingly grinned at her friend. Lance wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

"Does little red need a hug?" Lance said in a mocking tone.

"Shut up," Ruby said, rolling her eyes and fighting the urge to smile.

Port looked over to Lance and Ruby, he started chuckling.

"Ah Mr. Sage, I see you are quiet ladies man," Port grandly said.

Lance and Ruby's faces immediately turned a deep wine red at Port's words. The two immediately separated and put their backs to each other.

"I was quite the ladies man back in my day," Port said, winking at the many huntresses in the room, who rolled their eyes at him.

"I'm sure you were sir," Lance said. "Now back to my previous point. If you work hard and train, then you can be one of the greats, like Trish Blendner."

Lance tuned out Port's words and quickly fell asleep on his desk. Suddenly Lance felt something poking him. Lance slowly opened his eyes and raised his head from his desk.

Lance looked over to his right and saw Ruby was jabbing a piece of paper into his ribs, she wasn't looking at him, but looking straight ahead. Lance took the piece of paper from Ruby.

Lance opened the piece of paper. Lance studied the paper, it was a note that asked Lance if he wanted to sit with Ruby for lunch. Lance rolled his eyes and smiled as he drew a pen and answered Ruby's note.

Lance passed the piece of paper back over to Ruby, who quickly grabbed it and opened it. Ruby smiled at the answer on the paper.

XXX XXX XXX

Ruby and Lance walked into Glynda's classroom. It was a circle shaped room and inside the middle of the circular room was a arena. The arena had a massive screen that loomed on a wall behind it.

Ruby sat down with her team and Lance sat with his. Ruby and Lance were sitting together, they discussed random things.

Suddenly the lights dimmed and a spotlight shined on the arena. Glynda walked out into the middle of the arena. The teacher held a data pad, she looked up from the pad at her class.

"Hello students," Glynda greeted, her voice was very monotone.

Lance and Ruby stopped talking and Lance was paying attention to Glynda's words.

"Today, we will start out with a little sparring," Glynda explained. "Any volunteers?"

Lance's hand immediately shot into the air. Glynda was surprised to see Lance's hand up.

"Ah Mr. Sage! Okay, you'll partner will be," Glynda paused, she scanned her class for an opponent. Glynda's eyes landed on Pyrrha, a sinister grin came across the teacher's face. "Ms. Nikos!"

Pyrrha was surprised to hear her name called, she worriedly looked at Lance, who didn't seem bothered that his opponent was a world famous fighter.

Lance stood up and began to stretch. He hopped over a few desks and landed in the arena. Pyrrha slowly walked down some stairs and reached the arena.

The two fighters walked towards the edge of the arena. Pyrrha had heard stories about Lance and how bad he was. Pyrrha decided she would go easy on him.

Lance and Pyrrha stood on opposite sides of the arena, they both stared at each other. Pyrrha drew her shield and spear. Lance got into a stance. A bell rang and pictures of Lance and Pyrrha's faces appeared on the giant screen in the classroom.

Their pictures were accompanied by red bars. Glynda quickly stepped out of the arena, leaving the fighters to start their match.

Lance rushed towards Pyrrha, who had assumed a defensive position. Pyrrha had raised her shield and crouched down.

Lance reached the girl and slammed his fist into her shield. Pyrrha pushed her shield towards him, causing Lance to stagger back. Pyrrha stood straight and aimed her full extended spear at Lance.

Pyrrha charged Lance and jabbed at his chest. Lance frantically leapt back. Pyrrha chased after the male. Pyrrha again jabbed at Lance, who went to leap back again, but Pyrrha fired her spear after him.

The spear slammed into Lance's chest and he was sent flying back. Pyrrha rushed forward and grabbed her spear. Pyrrha flung her shield after Lance. The shield quickly caught up with Lance and slammed into his head, knocking him out.

Lance's limp body fell to the ground. Pyrrha's shield flew back to her, she gracefully caught the shield. Pyrrha sheathed her spear and slung her shield onto her back. Pyrrha walked off the arena as Glynda called the nurses to retrieve Lance and take him to the infirmary.

XXX XXX XXX

Lance slowly opened his eyes. Blinding white lights shined down into his eyes. Lance shielded his eyes with his hands.

"Agh!"

Lance pushed the lights out of the way and sat up. Lance slowly scanned around the room. The room was entirely white, with dozens of white beds lining the walls of the room.

Lance swung his legs onto the side of the bed and stood up. Lance's head was pounding and he couldn't remember what had happened. Lance stumbled towards the door to the room, but suddenly it was flung open.

A man walked into the room, his short, golden hair was lit up by the bright white lights. Lance stared at the man in confusion.

Lance immediately noticed that the man had two swords hanging on his waist, both were being kept in royal blue sheaths. Lance also noticed his long grey coat, his eyes were drawn to the white lines that ran across it.

The man's navy blue eyes scanned around the room, the slowly came to Lance and rested on him. The man's face lit up and he smiled at Lance.

"Found you!" The man grandly shouted.

Lance was taken back by the man's booming voice.

"W-who are you?" Lance asked, unsure if he should speak.

"My name is Stark, Fern Stark," Fern answered. He continued smiling at Lance.

Lance still stared at the man with confusion. Both of them were silent, finally Lance broke that silence, "So what do you want with me?"

Fern walked towards Lance and clapped both of his hands onto the boy's shoulders. Fern's smile grew, his smile beamed down at Lance.

"Well, I don't want to out right say it, but I just can't take it anymore," Fern said. "I know you aren't the best at fighting."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Half of Beacon knows that."

Fern shrugged and replied to Lance's comment, "I could help change that."

"What?!" Lance asked, staring at Fern.

"I used to be a teacher here and I have a lot of time, so I can train you."

Lance stared at the ground, he was unsure how to answer.

Fern frowned at the boy. "Look if you think that your pride is at stake because you take extra help, then…"

"Of course!" Lance eagerly answered, cutting Fern off.

"Wait, what?" Fern asked, confused to Lance's suddenness to accept his proposal.

"I swore that I would become the best, if that means training harder or taking lessons, then I will do it in a heartbeat!" Lance proudly declared.

Fern grinned down at Lance, who was smiling up at Fern.

' _He's just like I thought,'_ Fern thought to himself.

"Alright! Now the nurses have excused you from class, due to a 'concussion'." Fern made quotes with his hands.

"So we can start training now?" Lance eagerly inquired.

"Of course!" Fern said, smirking at Lance.

Fern spun around on his heel and started walking towards the door. Lance quickly ran after Fern.

XXX XXX XXX

BSIL's dorm door swung open and Silver and Bronze walked in. Silver carried a few text books and Bronze was carrying a notebook. Silver dropped her books onto one of the nearby desks.

Bronze placed his notebook next to Silver's books. The team leader's face was full of worry.

"We can't keep covering for him," Silver suddenly said.

Bronze knew what she was talking about. "He is our teammate."

"He ran off and we haven't seen him in three days."

"We are supposed to be a team."

"Well I am sick of covering for someone who wouldn't do the same for us."

Bronze walked over to Silver and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I know it is hard, but it was what being a team is all about."

Silver rolled her eyes. "You are too trusting in him."

"Lance has potential, I can see that," Bronze said. "Please just for a little longer."

Silver sighed and gave her answer, "Okay, but he owes me a lot."

Bronze smiled at his female teammate. "Thank you!"

Bronze grabbed the girl and pulled her into a hug. Silver blushed and slowly hugged him back. Bronze broke the hug and looked sternly down at his female teammate.

"We have to go to Glynda's class now."

"Okay," Silver said, walking over and grabbing her text books. "Let's go."

XXX XXX XXX

Two males stood in the Emerald forest. The ground around them was scorched and partially on fire. The males stood a few yards from the each other.

Lance was panting and out of breath. Lance was struggling to stand, his green aura shimmered around his body.

Fern stared Lance down. He flared his coat back and raised his hands. Fern's eyes sternly stared into Lance's.

"You have been doing better with your aura control, but I want you to try and block this attack!" Fern ordered.

Lance confidently nodded, he closed his eyes and began to focus his aura. Fern's coat's white lines began to glow and Fern held out his right hand.

Blue lightning began racing around Fern's hand. The lightning soon coated and engulfed Fern's hand and Fern smirked. Fern looked up at Lance and they both nodded to one and another.

Fern leapt towards Lance with immense speed. Fern pulled his arm back and prepared to stab his hand into Lance. Fern jabbed his hand forward and it raced towards Lance.

Lance quickly raised his hand and blocked the attack with his hand. Lance countered the attack by slamming his free hand into Fern's gut and sending a shockwave of aura.

Fern slapped Lance's hand away with his own free hand. Fern roundhouse kicked Lance in his side and forced Lance to the ground.

Lance caught himself with his hands, but Fern axe kicked Lance in his spine. Fern's foot slammed Lance into the ground. Lance tried to get back up, but Fern stomped down onto his back, pinning Lance to the ground.

"Come on! You think that with slow movements like that, you will become great?" Fern shouted, kneeling down next to his student.

Lance tried to leap up, but Fern slammed his hand into Lance's back and pushed him back down.

"No… Sir," Lance said, out of breath.

"If you think that three days of straight training is a lot, then you haven't experienced anything."

"You haven't taught me anything!" Lance snapped.

Fern shook his head in a disapproving way. "That's not true, I taught you about your aura and how to control it better."

Lance suddenly shot up and wound his arm back. Lance threw his fist forward towards Fern.

The man effortlessly caught Lance's wrist and used his other hand to slam his palm into Lance's gut.

Lance felt pain shoot through his body and he coughed up blood. Lance collapsed on the ground.

Fern glared down at him, his eyes held no mercy for the boy.

"How could someone so weak, want to be the greatest?" Fern turned around and started walking away. "You should just give up."

Those final words rang in Lance's ears. Lance's hands formed fists and he struggled to his feet. Lance glared at Fern.

"Don't you ever underestimate me!" Lance declared.

Lance's green jacket began to glow white and fire swirled around his arms. Lance threw his fists forwards and two balls of fire flew out of them.

Fern spun around, his coat's lines glowing white. Fern slammed his hands onto the ground and a wall of ice formed in front of him. The balls of fire slammed into the walls of ice, partially melting it.

Fern stood up straight and adjusted his coat. Fern went to walk away, but something caught his eyes.

Lance came speeding around the ice wall and rushed towards Fern. Lance had fire engulfing his hands. Lance wound his arms back and threw them forward. Both of his fists came flying towards Fern with such speed that Fern had no time to block or dodge.

Lance's fists slammed into Fern and sent him sliding back on his feet. Fern slowly came to a stop and looked back at Lance. Fern's yellow aura shimmered around his body.

Lance suddenly snapped out of his frenzy, he looked around confused. Fern grinned at the boy.

"How did you do that, what was that power?" Fern asked, walking towards Lance.

"I… I don't know," Lance said, panting and out of breath.

"Interesting, well I'm glad to see what makes you tick," Fern said, walking away. "You'd best run back to Beacon."

Lance nodded and turned around, he started to walk in the direction of Beacon. Lance was still in awe by what he had just done.

Fern stopped walking and turned around. Fern watched Lance leave, he smirked at the boy.

"He is something else."

XXX XXX XXX

RWBY and BSI sat in Glynda's class. The class was nearing its end and Glynda was looking for one final matchup.

Suddenly the doors flew open and someone ran in. Everyone turned their heads towards the doors.

Lance hurriedly rushed through the class and sat beside his teammate, he nervously smiled.

"Ah Mr Sage, how wonderful that you felt like joining us today," Glynda sneered.

Lance nervously rubbed the back of his neck and grinned. "Sorry, but I was getting in a little extra training, I promise I haven't been slacking off."

Glynda raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Care to prove that?"

Lance stood up and confidently looked down at Glynda. "Yes, I would."

"Very well, your partner shall be Cardin."

Cardin stood up and smirked at Lance. The two walked down towards the arena and entered it.

Cardin and Lance walked to opposite sides of the arena. Cardin raised his mace and aimed it at Lance.

"I can't believe I have to fight the runt," He sneered.

Lance rolled his eyes. "And I have to fight the kid with the brain damage."

Cardin stared at Lance in confusion. "I don't have…"

"Wait till this match is over."

The lights dimmed around them and a spotlight shined down onto the arena. The buzzer sounded and the fighters pictures appeared on a screen above them, along with their aura bars.

Suddenly Cardin charged Lance. Cardin was furious with Lance. Cardin swung his mace at Lance's face.

Lance leapt back and Cardin missed. Lance roundhouse kicked Cardin in his jaw, knocking Cardin to the ground. Cardin slammed into the ground and Lance dashed away.

Cardin struggled to his feet and glared at Lance. Cardin pressed a button on his mace and slammed it into the ground. A trail of fire shot towards Lance.

Lance leapt out of the way and Cardin rushed him. Cardin reached Lance and swung at Lance's side. Lance stepped back and avoided the attack.

Cardin jabbed his mace forward at Lance. Lance went to side step, but Cardin quickly swung his mace in the direction Lance was going.

Lance acted quickly and caught the mace by its handle. Lance used his free hand to jab into Cardin's gut. Lance sent a shock wave of aura to his hand and sent Cardin flying back. Cardin released his mace and flew back, slamming into the wall that surrounded the arena.

Cardin staggered around and shook his head, trying to snap out of his daze. Once Cardin finally had snapped out of his daze, he looked up and saw his mace speeding towards him.

The mace struck Cardin in his head, knocking him out instantly. Cardin collapsed to the ground and the buzzer sounded.

All the spectators stared in awe at Lance, who just a few days ago could barely take on a beowolf. Pyrrha smiled at the boy. BSI was in shock about what they had just witnessed.

Lance quietly walked out of the arena and back to his team, but on the inside he was screaming.

Silver looked at her teammate, she suddenly had a different kind of interest in him. Silver now wanted to spar with him to see what he could really do.


	3. V1 Ch3 BSIL's First Mission

BSIL sat around their dorm. Bronze and Lance were laying on their beds, Bronze read his notes in order to study for a test. Lance was reading a comic book.

Silver and Iron sat on the floor, they played a black jack. Iron was losing a lot of lien to Silver in their game.

Suddenly a knock was heard at the door. Lance looked up from his comic at the door, he stared at the door with a confused face. A second knock echoed throughout the room and Lance hopped off his bed.

Lance walked towards the door. He reached out and grabbed the knob of the door, turning it. Lance pulled the door open, revealing the being on the other side.

Yang Xiao Long walked into the room. She had a smile on her face and giddly looked around BSIL's dorm.

"Who are you?" Silver asked, her eyes moving from her game and onto Yang.

Yang smiled at Silver. "My name is Yang Xiao Long."

"And why are you here?" Silver asked, getting annoyed.

"Well, I am looking for someone," Yang said, scanning around the room. Yang's eyes landed on Lance. "You!"

Yang grabbed Lance and wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him down. Ruby came running, she was out of breath and winded. Ruby looked at Yang and Lance and she shook her head.

"Don't mind my sister. Would you like to come over and hang?" Ruby asked, panting.

Yang released Lance, who stood up straight and looked at Ruby.

"Sure."

Ruby smiled and walked out of the dorm. Lance followed the young girl. Yang was about to leave, but she scanned the room one more time and her eyes landed on Bronze.

Yang grinned at him and rushed over to him. Yang blushed and looked away, she was smiling.

"So... would you like to come over too?" Yang quietly asked, nervously swaying her hips side to side.

Bronze quickly replied. "Sure."

Bronze swung his legs off the bed and stood up. Yang led him out of the room, leaving an annoyed Silver.

"Who does that bimbo think she is?" Silver sneered.

Iron shrugged and placed his cards down.

"I'm going, you coming with?" Silver looked at Iron, who shrugged in response.

Silver stood up and stormed out of the dorm, following Yang and Bronze.

XXX XXX XXX

A man in a white coat walked in a warehouse. Massive creates were stacked along the path way the man walked through. He swung his cane around as he walked.

The man walked up to a map of Vale, it had crudely written messages all over it. The man's eyes scanned the map, they eventually landed on four pictures.

A faunus walked up behind the man and coughed, gaining the man's attention. The man didn't turn around, but made it clear that he was paying attention.

"Sir, we have picked out the decoys."

"Oh goody! I don't think the cops will be able to connect the dots, they most likely will just go with who ever they can find," The man explained.

"Of course sir," The faunus said, walking away.

The man returned to his scan of the map. His eyes were drawn back to the four pictures and a grin crept over his face.

XXX XXX XXX

The door to RWBY's dorm flew open. Ruby and Lance walked in, followed by Yang and Bronze. Silver stormed in after the four.

Ruby quickly brought Lance over to her bunk so they could talk. Ruby loved having a friend that was closer to her age. The two discussed many things, comic books, movies, music, TV shows.

As Ruby and Lance talked, Yang pulled Bronze over to her bunk and climbed up onto it. Silver followed Yang and also sat on her bunk. Yang looked at Silver with a confused expression.

"So… Bronze, where are you from?" Yang asked, trying to ignore Silver.

"Oh, well I am from downtown Vale," Bronze answered.

"Where did you go to combat school?" Yang questioned.

"Signal."

Yang scooted over to Bronze and sat next to him, much to Silver's dismay. Silver was about to scream at Yang, but her scroll rang.

Bronze and Yang looked at Silver, who leapt off the bed and walked out into the hallway. Bronze noticed that when she looked at her scroll, Silver looked very worried and nervous.

Bronze stared at the door, not noticing Yang trying to kiss him. Bronze didn't want to leave his teammate alone to deal with whatever, so he suddenly leapt off the bed and rushed after her.

Bronze threw the door open and walked out into the hallway, bumping into Silver.

"Oh! Excuse me!" Bronze frantically said, backing up.

Silver blushed and also backed up, apologizing, "No, I should be watching where I am walking."

Bronze glanced down to Silver's hand and saw she was still holding her scroll. Seeing her scroll reminded Bronze of why he come out again.

"Hey what's up? Who was calling you?" Bronze asked.

Silver seemed taken back by Bronze's question. Silver nervously answered the question, "Well… It was my… old work, I guess you could say."

Bronze noticed Silver's nervousness. He gave her a friendly smile and wrapped his arm around her neck, bringing her closer to him.

"Wanna get some food?" Bronze cheerfully asked.

Silver blushed a little at the question. "S-sure."

Bronze lead Silver down the hallway and out of the dorm building.

XXX XXX XXX

Bronze and Silver sat in a small cafe, overlooking the bay of Vale. The two both had a coffee. Silver was smiling and laughing at Bronze's words.

"So I told the guy that I was fast, but I couldn't run on water. I mean who can?!" Bronze asked.

Silver giggled and took a sip of her coffee. Bronze gazed into the girl's eyes.

"Do what kind of work did you use to do?" Bronze innocently asked.

Silver choked on her coffee when she heard Bronze's words.

"That bad huh?" Bronze inquired.

Silver shook her head. "Not bad, I was rather good at it. It was thrilling, got my blood pumping, ya know?"

Bronze nodded, combat gave him the rush he always craved.

"I just don't like to talk about it, people won't think of me if they knew what I am," Silver said.

Bronze scoffed and placed his hand on Silver's cheek. "As your leader I won't think any different of you."

Silver laughed. "Thanks, but even you probably won't feel that way if I told you."

"What is it?" Bronze bluntly asked.

"Bronze, drop it."

Bronze understood that Silver didn't want to talk about it, so he politely changed the subject. "So, where are you from?"

"Vacuo."

"Oh really? That is an interesting area," Bronze said, trying to make conversation.

Silver scoffed. "No, it sucks."

Bronze nervously took a sip of his coffee, not knowing how to talk to Silver.

"So what's it like being the best fighter from Signal?" Silver asked.

Bronze smiled and laughed. "I'm not that good."

Silver laughed at his words. "Your papers said that you took on a fully trained huntsman."

"Meh," Bronze said, shrugging.

Silver felt her scroll buzz. Bronze heard the scroll buzz and looked down at it. Silver blushed slightly and drew her scroll, she looked at the message and her face grew solemn.

"It's Lance, he needs us back at Beacon quickly," Silver said, standing up.

Bronze also stood up and together the two left the cafe.

XXX XXX XXX

Lance and Iron paced around Ozpin's office. Ozpin sat in his chair and studied some papers on his desk.

Suddenly the elevator's bell rang and the door opened. Bronze and Silver stepped out of the elevator. They looked around the room, both confused at why they were summoned.

Ozpin looked up and his face lit up. "Ah! Perfect the whole team is here. Now I have an offer for you."

"Which is?" Bronze asked, walking towards Ozpin's desk.

Ozpin smirked. "I have an assignment for you."

BSIL's faces lit up, they smiled at the headmaster.

"What is it?" Lance excitedly asked.

Ozpin grinned and took a sip of his coffee. "Trash duty."

"What?!" Lance whined.

"It isn't that bad, just picking up some trash in an alley way, you could even watch the parade."

"Parade?" Lance asked, interested.

"Yes, A representative from Atlas is coming into Vale," Silver answered.

Ozpin stared at Silver, he was amazed that she knew that. "I never knew that young people still keep up with news like that."

Silver looked at the ground, avoiding Ozpin's eyes. "Well, it is just something I heard."

Ozpin nodded. "Anyway, the mission is today, so here is the address, be on your way."

Ozpin handed Bronze a piece of paper. Bronze nodded and walked to the elevator, with his team following. The doors opened and the team walked in.

Bronze pressed the button for the lobby floor and the doors slowly closed.

XXX XXX XXX

Three males stood in an alley, they each had a black trash bag and a spike. They slowly picked the trash up.

"This is so lame!" Lance whined. "Silver isn't even here!"

Bronze bent down to spike some trash. "Well she had to use the bathroom."

Suddenly the cheers were heard from the street. Lance smiled and looked at the street. Lance threw his trash bag down and rushed out of the alley.

"Hey!" Bronze called after him, chasing after Lance.

Iron looked up and shrugged, returning to picking up the trash.

Lance made it to the street's edge. Lance stared down the street in awe. The police slowly drove down the street, they surrounded a black limo.

The street was lined with many people, who had came from their homes to watch the Officail.

Suddenly Lance felt a hand grab his shoulder and yanked him back. Lance stumbled backwards and Bronze released him.

"What are you doing?!" Lance asked, annoyed.

Bronze glared at him. "We are supposed to cleaning that alley!"

"Oh learn to have a little fun," Lance said, waving his hands and walking back towards the street.

Lance saw the limo, the Atlas official was leaning out the window waving. A few Atlesian knights walked along the limo.

"It is time to usher in a new age of peace!" The official said. "With me here, the trade deal shall go through and Vale's economy will grow!"

The people applauded at the Official's words. Their cheers echoed through the street.

Bronze and Lance both stopped arguing as the limo passed them. The official smiled at the two and waved. Lance quickly waved back, he suddenly noticed that a red dot was right between the official's eyes.

Suddenly a loud bang erupted through the streets. Lance and Bronze spun around and saw a person on the roof, they had a rifle aimed at the limo.

Suddenly and without thinking, Lance rushed towards the wall. Lance leapt up the wall onto the roof. Lance glared at the assassin. The person's face was covered by a mask and they wore black armor.

"Murder!" Lance yelled, rushing towards the killer.

The assassin drew their lever action rifle towards their chest and pressed a button. The rifle quickly morphed into a blade. The assassin rushed towards Lance.

Lance held out his hand and his jacket began to glow. Fire swirled around his hand and Lance threw it at the assassin.

The assassin blocked the fireball with their sword. The assassin reached Lance and stabbed at him.

Suddenly the assassin's blade was blocked by another. Bronze slashed at the assassin, but they flipped backwards.

As soon as the assassin landed back on their feet, Bronze and Lance attacked. The assassin slashed at Lance, who ducked. Bronze stabbed his blade into the assassin's shoulder.

The assassin's white aura shimmered around their body and they stumbled back. Bronze didn't waste a second and pushed forward, slashing violently at the assassin.

All of Bronze's attacks were blocked. Bronze was sent flying backwards when the assassin slammed their palm into his chest.

Lance rushed towards the assassin and sent his fist flying at their face. The assassin dodged the attack with lightning quick reflexes. The assassin slashed at Lance, but he rolled to the side.

Bronze leapt forward towards the assassin and tried to slash them, but the assassin began to dodge as soon as Bronze moved his arms. The assassin ducked back as Bronze's blade sailed over their head.

The assassin spun around on the ground and swept Bronze's legs out from underneath him. The assassin leapt to their feet and looked down at Bronze.

Suddenly the assassin felt a burning feeling on her back as they were sent flying forward by a massive torrent of flames.

Lance stood behind the assassin and his hands were together and pointed towards the assassin. The flames flew off Lance's hands and into the air, hitting the assassin.

The assassin flew away and landed on the roof. She slid to a stop and slowly got onto her feet.

The assassin looked between the two males and suddenly spun around. The assassin sprinted away and leapt from the roof to another.

Lance and Bronze chased after them. The two also leaped from their roof to the other roof.

The assassin continued to run as they leapt from roof to roof. Lance and Bronze slowly fell behind.

The assassin soon gained a far distance on the two males. The males didn't know it, but they were being led in a circle.

Suddenly the assassin leapt down into an alley. Lance and Bronze hurried to catch up. The two soon also came to the alley, they also leapt down.

Once Lance and Bronze landed, they began scanning around. Bronze immediately noticed both Iron and Silver were laying against the wall of a building. Both of them were bleeding heavily and had bullet holes in their chests.

Silver weakly looked up at the two, she coughed up some blood. "I was able to disarm them, but they got away."

Silver gestured to the lever action rifle that laid next to her. Bronze rushed over to her and knelt down. Bronze took his shirt off and placed it against Silver's wound.

"You're going to alright Silver," Bronze said, picking the girl up and carrying her out of the alleyway bridal style.

Lance looked at Iron and shook his head. Lance walked over and took off his jacket, wrapping it around the large male's wound. Lance helped Iron to his feet and Lance wrapped Iron's arm around his neck so Lance could help him walk.

The team walked out of the alley, they looked at the now surrounded limo, all but Silver looked. Lance shook his head in a disapproving way, Bronze did the same.

XXX XXX XXX


	4. Vol1 Ch4 Revealed

The Emerald forest had finally began calming down. Fern and Lance had just engaged in a brutal sparring session. Lance was tired and laid on the grassy floor of the forest.

Fern stood over the boy, he shook his head. "You want to get better?"

Lance shook his head, closing his eyes. He was fatigued and couldn't even get up, bruises and cuts lined his body.

"Let me ask again, are you prepared to get better?" Fern asked.

Lance shook his head again. "Anything."

Fern sighed and nodded his head. He reached down and offered his hand to Lance, who looked surprised. Lance cautiously took Fern's hand and Fern pulled Lance onto his feet.

Lance's head felt like it was flying in the clouds above, he began to fall back over. Fern swiftly caught the young teen. Fern placed Lance's arm around his neck, supporting his student.

The two began to walk off, together. Lance was experiencing something new, he had someone to help him, someone to lean on when he couldn't face life's challenges alone. Lance couldn't help but smile as they both walked back.

XXX XXX XXX

Bronze, Silver and Iron sat in a large classroom. Glynda Goodwitch was giving a lecture at the front of the room. Ruby wondered where Lance was. Ruby knew it was usual for him to be late, but she hadn't seen him in any of the other classes prior to this one.

Ruby had saved him a seat, it was between her and Silver. Ruby's teammates sat next to her. She sighed and tried to pay attention, trying not to think about her friend.

Glynda stopped her lecture, she checked the clock on a wall. Glynda sighed and rubbed her brow in frustration, she looked at team BSIL, who was still missing Lance.

"Is Mr. Sage going to be joining us?" Glynda asked, obviously mad about Lance's multiple lates.

Silver was about to speak, but Bronze interrupted her. "He is not feeling well."

Glynda raised an eyebrow. "What is it this time, a cold, virus or broken bone?"

"Um…" Bronze thought about it. He answered with uncertainty. "All of the above?"

Glynda cleared her throat. "I'm afraid that this time your entire team has detention."

Sliver huffed and shook her head, she was furious and was tired of covering for Lance. Bronze nodded and looked down at the desk in front of him. Glynda sighed and went back to her lecture.

XXX XXX XXX

Lance raced down the halls of Beacon, he furiously trying to buckle his pants. If he had known what time it was, he wouldn't have sparred with Fern as long as he did. Lance quickly made it to Glynda's classroom.

Just as Lance was reaching for the door handle, the bell rang and the door burst open. All the students began pouring out of the classroom, trampling Lance. Lance was knocked to the ground by his peers, who hurried to their dorms, ready to end the day.

Lance laid on the ground, he sighed and muttered to himself, "Another missed class."

"Why are you on the floor?" Bronze asked, leaning over his teammate.

Lance looked at his team leader. He was too tired to come up with some witty come back. Lance sighed and stood back up. Silver stomped out of the class with Iron. She walked up to Lance and punched him in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Lance asked, rubbing his arm.

"For getting us in trouble!" Silver stormed away.

Lance looked at Bronze and shrugged. "What should I do?"

"Talk to her, I'll help."

XXX XXX XXX

BSIL had met in their dorm. The door was shut, no one wanted others to hear them. Silver sat on her bed, arms crossed and glared at Lance. The youngest member of their team sat on Bronze's bed, next to Bronze. Iron leant against the door.

"So," Bronze said, shattering the tense silence. "Let's get this resolved."

"How about we address the issue?" Silver asked, still glaring at Lance. She pointed at Lance. "That idiot needs to come to class, what are you even doing?"

"I'm training," Lance answered.

Silver rolled her eyes. "For what?"

"I told you," Lance said, looking down. "I'm going to be the best."

"Ha!" Silver scoffed. "Why is that so important to you?"

"That's something that doesn't concern you."

"Well it is getting me detentions, so I think it does." Silver stood and walked over to the bed. "Why?"

"Drop it," Lance growled.

"Sil…" Bronze tried to protest, but she cut him off.

"Want to impress someone?" Silver asked, getting closer. "Like your mother or father?"

Lance looked at the ground. "Drop it."

"What? Don't have daddy's approval?" She asked with a mocking tone.

Lance looked up, he stared into her eyes. He opened his mouth and his voice began in a serious tone. "I'm an orphan."

Bronze sighed. "We should all…"

"You think that is hard?" Silver asked, trying to not laugh. Lance nodded and she scoffed.

Silver turned around and started walking away. Lance couldn't take it anymore, he hated how she looked at him, spoke to him, thought of him.

"What and you have it harder?!" Lance shouted, standing up.

Silver spun around and stormed back over to Lance. "Yes, I do."

"Like what?" Lance asked. Silver fell silent, she didn't want to say, not in front of her teammates. Lance stared at her. "What is it?"

She looked at the ground. "I told Bronze this, but I did some undesirable work when I was younger and even today."

"Like what?" Lance asked, rolling his eyes.

"I-I'm, a…" Silver was starting to choke on the tears that began to stream from her eyes. "Contract killer."

Lance's eyes widened. "What?"

"My semblance makes me a pretty good shot, turns out that people pay for that."

Bronze stepped forward. "The day of our mission, the assassin on the roof, was you?"

Silver nodded and Lance shook his head. He was experiencing a mix of anger and sadness for his teammate. Lance just took a few steps back and sat down on his bed.

Silver looked back up and scanned the room. "Well, anyone else have a messed up life?"

Bronze slowly raised his hand, surprising everyone. Lance the most, he always thought Bronze was the perfect everything.

"My… Parents fought a lot." He looked at the ground. "It kept me awake at night, especially when I heard her scream in pain."

Silver walked over quickly and hugged the male. "I'm sorry."

Bronze hugged the girl. "It's quite alright."

Bronze and Silver separated. The four looked at each other and everyone apologized, they all had messed up lives, but tears wouldn't make it any better. Lance sighed and began walking towards the door, he yanked it open and walked out into the hallway.

Suddenly a red blur rushed up to him, happily cheering, "Lance!"

"Oh hey Ruby!" Lance said smiling at the girl.

"We still on for hanging out?" She asked, tilting her head.

Lance nodded. "Of course, where do you want to go?"

Ruby grabbed Lance's hand and drug him away. She raced back to her room, dragging the boy behind her. She barged into her dorm, surprising the rest of her team. They all turned their heads to the door, each had mixed emotions of Ruby barging in with a boy. Blake didn't care, Weiss was grinning and snickering, and Yang was concerned.

Ruby pulled Lance through her room, happy that she finally had someone her age to talk with. Ruby sat him down on the floor and turned on her television, drawing her scroll. She pointed at Lance.

"Prepare to get destroyed!" She shouted, loading up a fighting video game.

The evening passed very quickly for the pair. They spent it playing video games, reading comic books, and talking about their classes. The rest of team RWBY watched, Weiss couldn't help but snicker the entire time. Finally, night ascended onto the dorm and Lance had to leave. Ruby walked him to the door and wished him a good night, she shut the door and turned around.

Ruby met the faces of the rest of her team. They all looked at her with suspense.

"What?" She innocently asked, tilting her head.

" _She has a crush on him and doesn't know it, what a dounce!"_ Weiss thought to herself, snickering some more.

"Ruby, do you have a crush on Lance?" Yang bluntly asked.

"Ew no," Ruby quickly and calmly said, walking towards her bed. "Boys are gross."

The three girls looked at each other as Ruby laid down. They all shook their heads and grinned.

XXX XXX XXX

Lance flipped backwards in the pitch black Emrald forest. He had just barely dodged a shining blade. Fern tracked Lance as he flipped away, he clenched a longsword in each hand, the swords were usually sheathed in their royal blue sheaths. Suddenly Fern unleashed a barrage, he slashed around himself with lightning speed.

Lance held up his form arms and summoned two shields of ice, he began frantically blocking each attack. The swords collided with Lance's shields many times, slowly cracking them with each hit. Fern had become a blur to Lance and was increasing his speed by the second. Soon the ice shields shatter and Lance was left defenseless.

The boy tried to summon some more, but nothing happened. His coat didn't light up and no elements came to him. It was at this moment Fern struck him repeatedly with his blades. Lance was sent flying away, slamming into a tree that stood along the border of the clearing. Lance hit the ground with a thud and didn't get up.

"Is that all?" Fern said, walking towards Lance. "I was only using half of my speed, you'll have to try a lot harder."

Lance groaned and raised his head, struggling onto his hands and knees. "Why didn't my jacket work?"

"You expect me to know these things?" Fern rolled his eyes. He looked back down at the child before him. Lance had taken off his jacket and was examining it. Fern sighed. "Do you even know how that thing works?"

Lance looked up at Fern. He nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Not at all."

Fern snatched the jacket from Lance's hands, he was obviously annoyed by Lance's carelessness. Fern examined the jacket, it was clear what was wrong with Lance's primary weapon. Fern sighed and ripped the jacket into two.

Lance's jaw hit the ground. "What are you doing?!"

"I've been meaning to do that for so long, you have been holding onto some ancient weapon, this jacket won't help you grow as a fighter or as a Dust Mage."

"Dust Mage?" Lance tilted his head.

Fern sighed again. "Masters of dust? The men and women who fight using the elements? Oh for crying out loud, ATLAS HAS THEIR OWN ARMY OF DUST MAGES!"

Lance leapt back in surprise. "They're that important?"

Fern nodded. "I thought that's why you were wearing this jacket."

"Wait, so why isn't my jacket working?" Lance questioned.

"Quit changing the subject!" Fern shouted, getting annoyed.

"I don't care about some army of people using dust," Lance said, waving his hands around. "Why isn't my jacket working?"

"Well besides the fact that I just shredded it, your jacket was out of dust," Fern said.

"So what, I just buy some more?" Lance asked.

"Heh, not exactly. Most people use dust sewn into their clothing, but after sometime the dust runs out. An age old technique that is still used today," Fern explained.

Lance sat down on the ground and looked up at his teacher. "So I just need to sew some more dust into my jacket and it will summon fire and all those other elements?"

Fern shrugged. "Or you could sew in other types of dust."

"Like what, lightning?" Lance questioned.

"I know a man who uses Iron as an attack," Fern said.

"What?" Lance asked, in shock.

Fern sighed yet again. "Don't you know anything about dust?"

"Only the basics."

"You can make all sorts of things by combining certain dusts in certain amounts, Dust Chemistry is very popular in the Atlesian military too." Fern bent down and poured out some dust.

Lance saw the different colors and immediately identified them. Fern was mixing a white dust with a brown one, Lance knew these were air and earth. Once the two were in a pile, Fern placed his hands on them. Suddenly his aura flashed around his hands and the two dusts activated. Fern removed his hands and a rod of iron was laying where the dust was.

Fern looked back at Lance and grinned. "This is basic chemistry combined with dust, it goes back to ancient times when our ancestors believed that all matter was created via the elements, we are able to use their beliefs and create anything out of dust. So, I am know giving you the chance to make your own dust clothing, this will allow you to cast dust more efficiently than pouring it out of cases."

"Well, what should I make?" Lance questioned.

"Whatever you want," Fern said.

"What can I make?" Lance asked.

"Whatever you can," Fern answered.

Lance sighed. "Thanks."

Fern smiled at the boy. "Well, I'd love to keep going tiny, but without any dust, you can't fight."

"Tiny?!" Lance shouted, leaping onto his feet. He leapt towards Fern and swung at him.

Fern smirked and stepped to the side, dodging the attack. Lance tried to stop, but ended up stumbling past him. Fern smiled and he kicked Lance in the back, forcing Lance to the ground.

"Get some rest, come back to me once you've gotten your dust abilities back."

XXX XXX XXX

Lance sat in his dorm, he had a book in his hand and was on his bed. Iron was taking a shower in the bathroom and Bronze and Silver were studying for a test. Lance had gotten little sleep the night before, he was busy reading up on dust and the art of infusing it into clothing, yet it had yielded little results. A pile of books was at his side, each one containing various info on dust and infused dust clothing.

Suddenly Lance shouted in anger, he hurled the book across the room. "Stupid, useless book!"

Silver looked over her shoulder and stared at her teammate. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, just enraged," Lance said with a sigh. He reached the pile and grabbed another book. He cracked it open and began reading it.

Silver shrugged and turned back to her notes with Bronze. Lance continued his readings, he began to smirk. Finally he had found the right book, finally he could start work on his new weapon. But a problem remained and Lance had just thought of it.

"Agh! I don't have any dust!" Lance shouted.

XXX XXX XXX

Wind swept through the deserted streets of Mountain Glenn. Only grimm and other monsters roamed around the abandoned streets. Down in the deep caves that stretched for miles beneath the streets, there was a different story.

Fifteen people stood in the dark and damp cave. They were gathered in a circle. One of these beings stepped forward. His shaggy garnet red hair swayed from side to side.

"The time has come," He said, raising a hand to silence the others. "I am afraid we have been forced to act. Salem and her forces have promised us justice, while Ozpin has promised us the same, but both lie. They both wish to use us for a war that does not concern us."

"I say let them all burn!" A man shouted.

The red haired being looked over at the man, who stood behind him. This man stood out due to his golden hair and eyes.

"Now is not the time to rush in to a battle. I fear that our race-"

"Our race will die, we our the leaders of our race, we must act now!" The golden haired being shouted.

"Wut!" The red haired being shouted, raising his hand once again. Wut grit his teeth and clenched his fists, he looked at the ground. "I'm going to ignore your disrespect to your king!"

A man with jet black hair stepped forward. "Why not let the humans fight their own battles, I don't see much of a reason to get involved."

"Ego, I don't need your opinion."

Ego grinned. "I think you do, why not be a little selfish, let's turn a blind eye, then reap justice once everyone has been weakened!"

Wut stepped forward. "Coward, who even let you in here!"

"I have no idea, I really don't care about any of this," Ego said with a shrug. Wut glared at Ego, he was ready to attack. "But I know that your hatred towards humans is going to be bad news for me in the end."

"It is beneficial to kill the humans, we get both revenge and please him," Wut said.

Ego looked at Wut with uninterest. "Pleasing something that can't be pleased is useless."

The red haired being raised his hand once again and the two stopped arguing. "This conversation is over, I expect you all pick a side soon. Fair well."

Suddenly, the fifteen figures all vanished in the blink of an eye. Each had gone their separate way. Neither knew what the others were going to pick, but they knew that mass conflict was arriving soon.

XXX XXX XXX


	5. V1 Ch5 Journey From The East

Lance walked quickly through the halls of Beacon. The afternoon sun's rays shined through the few windows that he passed. He found it strange not having his jacket on. Lance passed many doors and dorms, but he stopped at the one of his desire, team RWBY's dorm. He lent forward to knock on the door, but heard the girls discussing something. Lance just shrugged and knocked on the door anyway.

Lance was able to hear the girls shush each other. Slowly the sound of footsteps grew louder as one of RWBY's members approached the door. Lance heard the sound of a hand being placed on the handle and it began to turn. Suddenly the door flew open, revealing Yang, who was looking around cautiously. She slowly looked down at Lance and lost her cautious attitude.

"Sup short stuff?" Yang casually asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Who you calling short!" Lance shouted, leaping at Yang. She laughed and pushed him down with her amazing strength.

"Glad to see you haven't changed much since the last we talked." Yang allowed the door to open up more, revealing the rest of team RWBY, along with two males. One was a monkey faunas whom Lance had never met before and the other had blue hair. "You always seem to be away, where do you go anyways?"

"Well I-"

"Poor Ruby misses you half the time," Yang said, giggling.

Ruby looked at Yang with a red face. "Y-Yang shut up!"

She turned away and pouted, trying to hide her blush. Ever since she had Lance over, her teammates had been teasing her about talking with a boy. Lance, however, was unphased by the comment.

"I need to speak with Weiss," He said.

Weiss tilted her head. "What do you want you dolt?"

"I need a favor!"

Weiss sighed and reluctantly walked to the door. Yang stepped past her back into their dorm as Weiss exited. Yang shut the door and turned to Ruby with a grin.

"What?" Ruby questioned.

"Jealous of Weiss' attention from Lance?" Yang jokingly asked.

"I told you, I DON'T LIKE HIM!" Ruby roared punching her sister in the arm.

Yang simply laughed at Ruby's anger. She soon looked at the door. "It got quiet, what do you think they are talking about?"

"WHY WOULD I EVER DO THAT?!" Weiss suddenly shouted on the other side of the door.

"Come on please?"

"YOU WANT HOW MUCH?"

"A couple of shards," Lance meekly said.

Suddenly the door flew open and Weiss stormed in. She walked over to her bag and pulled out a few shards of white, brown and red dust. She stomped back over to the door, shoved them into Lance's arms and slammed the door in his face. Weiss turned back around to her teammates and the two males. They all gave her an odd expression.

"What?" She snapped.

"Nothing, just proving your nickname," Yang mumbled.

"Alright, does everyone remember their roles?" Ruby cheerfully said. The five others nodded. "Then let's do this!"

"What are we doing?" A voice happily called from the window.

Everyone turned to the window and saw a man sitting with his legs crossed on the edge. His long, flowing black hair was tied in a ponytail and swayed in the window. A sword was strapped to his back and a smile on his face.

He waved at the six. "Greetings friends!"

"Um who are you?" Ruby asked.

"My name's Takeshi!" He cheerfully answered.

"Why are you sitting in our window?" Yang questioned.

Takeshi looked around and shrugged, he giddly leapt from the window ledge and into the dorm. He walked around the dorm with his hands behind his neck.

"So what are we doing?" He asked, still pacing around.

" _We_ are going into town, as a group," Blake said, gesturing around to the individuals.

"Oh? do tell," Takeshi said, gaining a more serious tone.

Ruby proudly stepped forward. "Yup, I organized everyone into teams of two!"

Takeshi nodded and smiled again. "Sounds like fun!"

Takeshi grabbed Ruby by the hood and began dragging her out of the room. Ruby tried to protest, but Takeshi kept an iron hold on her hood.

"That wasn't an invitation!" She protested.

"Hehehe," Takeshi chuckled.

The rest of the six were left stunned by the series of events that had just happened. Finally Weiss sighed and ran after Ruby and Takeshi.

XXX XXX XXX

Lance sat around his dorm, his teammates were all gone, they had all gone into town to shop and bond as a team. Bronze had asked Lance if he wanted to join them, but Lance knew he had to finish his new dust apparel. Lance was at one of the desks, he had a new jacket on the desk and a needle in his hand. Scorch marks and small stones littered the desk from his previous attempts.

"Time to attempt this one more time," he muttered to himself. Lance slowly stuck the needle into the cloth and began sewing, no explosion occurred and he continued cautiously.

Lance looked at the book he kept open and next to him, he sewed the pattern onto one sleeve that the book displayed. It was two triangles combined with one pointing upwards and the other pointing downwards. The triangle that pointed downwards had a line going through the top. Soon Lance had finished, he had sewn fire dust into the right sleeve.

Now he began on the other sleeve, sewing the same pattern, but with earth dust. Once finished Lance held up the sage green jacket, the brown and crimson red markings on each sleeve stood out against the sage green. Something was missing though, he flipped the jacket around and grabbed a white dust shard.

Lance began to crush up the white shard and attach it to his thread. Soon he began sewing it too onto the jacket. Soon he had a trianlge with a horizontal line through the top point. Lance smirked at the jacket and slid it on.

"Let's take this for a test run," He said. Lance stood up and walked towards the door. He knew the perfect training grounds to practice his new weapon.

XXX XXX XXX

Takeshi, Ruby and Weiss walked through Vale. Weiss and Ruby walked ahead of Takeshi and would occasionally give each other odd glances. Their entire trip up until this point had been that of silence, but finally, Takeshi couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer.

He leaned forward in between the two girls. "I do speak english you know."

"Unfortunately," Weiss sneered.

Ruby gave Weiss a disapproving look and smiled back at Takeshi, she pulled him forward. "I don't think we ever got each other's names, I'm-"

"Ruby Rose," Takeshi said, interrupting Ruby. He gestured to Weiss. "And that beautiful ice flower is Weiss Schnee. I was sitting outside the window longer than you think."

"I-ice flower?!" Weiss looked at Takeshi in shock, her face growing redder than a tomato. She had been called a lot by Jaune, but this name was new. Weiss quickly glanced away to hide her blush.

"Looks like blue hair isn't the only thing you look for in a man," Takeshi said with a smirk, causing Weiss to grow redder.

She cleared her throat and lost her blush. Sticking her nose in the air, Weiss snapped back, "An immature boy like you isn't fit for the heiress to the Schnee dust company."

"I'm sorry to ask, but who are they?" Takeshi asked, giggling.

The Weiss' mouth fell open in shock, she turned to Takeshi. "Only the primary supplier of dust in the world!"

"Oh right dust, that's the magic stuff you huntresses use right?" Takeshi asked, still keeping his smile.

"Wait, Takeshi, where are you from?" Ruby asked.

"Well from a kingdom of course," He said.

"Which one you dolt?!" Weiss shouted, face palming.

"Well Osten of course!" Takeshi giddly answered.

Weiss tilted her head. "I've never of that kingdom."

"Makes sense, Osten is a country from the east, we're still growing, not big like some of these ones, like Atlas."

"What were you doing at Beacon then?" Ruby questioned, puzzled.

"I wanted to get away from some people, but I think they'll find out where I've run off to."

"Well what we are doing is dangerous, so make sure not to get in our way if fighting starts," Weiss barked.

"You have my word, I will not be burden," Takeshi said, smiling even wider.

"Here, let me add you to our team's communication link," Ruby said, holding out her hand.

Takeshi drew his scroll and placed it into Ruby's hand. She pressed the screen a couple times and team RWBY's faces appeared on his scroll. Ruby handed the scroll back to Takeshi and they continued. Finally the three arrived at the CTT tower. Weiss and Ruby stopped, they turned to Takeshi.

"Wait here," They both ordered.

Takeshi saluated them and grinned. "Sure!"

He watched the two give him a suspicious look and walk away. Once both of them were out of sight, Takeshi felt his stomach growl. He grabbed his gut.

"Man I'm starved. Wonder if there's any good places to get a meal," Takeshi mutter, spinning around on his heel.

Takeshi suddenly bumped into a girl, knocking him off balance. The girl staggered back and Takeshi toppled over. Silver stood over Takeshi, she was annoyed that her coffee had spill when Takeshi had bumped into her. Bronze and Iron stood at her side and stared down at takeshi.

"Agh, watch where you're going jerk!" She shouted, looking down at Takeshi. She tilted her head. "Are you okay?"

Takeshi nodded. "Just a tad hungry."

"Hey, how about joining us for lunch?" Bronze cheerfully said.

"Hold on, wha-" Silver tried to protest.

"Sure!" Takeshi quickly said.

XXX XXX XXX

"YOU DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY?!" Silver shouted.

Takeshi smiled back at her from across the table. The team and Takeshi had visited a local noodle restaurant run by an old man. The bill had come and Takeshi had admitted he had no money.

Takeshi laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I must've forgot my wallet back in the east."

"I'll cover your tab," Bronze said, smiling at Takeshi.

"I appreciate it," Takeshi said, clapping his hands together and bowing slightly. He looked around and admired the night sky. "It sure got dark fast."

Suddenly a voice started shouting from his scroll. "Everyone, if you can hear me, we need back-"

Suddenly another voice cut her off. "HELP!"

Silver and Bronze looked at each other. Iron simply stood up and cracked his knuckles. Takeshi laughed and leapt onto his feet.

"Welp, thanks for the food, but I should really get goi-"

Silver cut Takeshi off. "You are coming too!"

She grabbed Takeshi by the collar and dragged him away. Silver also swiped his scroll and used it to follow team RWBY's location. The four quickly bolted, leaving what little money they had for the old man.

XXX XXX XXX

Soon BSIT arrived at the battle. It was under a bridge of a highway. A few opponents stood in team RWBY's path, a massive robot, a short woman with pink, brown and white hair, and a woman with long red hair tied in a pony tail.

Instantly Bronze, Silver, and Iron leapt into the battle. These three immediately caused chaos and confused the enemy. Each of the three picked an enemy to pursue. Silver chose the short woman, Bronze chose the woman with red hair and Iron chose to help RWBY with the robot.

"Neo," A voice shouted from the robot. "Take care of them as quickly as possible! And Ms Lulu-"

"Let me stop you right there Roman," The woman with red hair said. "I have my orders and you do not give me any, is that clear?"

"I-uh, yes ma'am," Roman said.

"Good," She said, drawing two knives. She leapt towards Ruby. "You're first on my list!"

Ruby yelped as Lulu slashed at her. Ruby was able to block the attack with her scythe, but she was sent flying away in the direction of Takeshi. Ruby landed just a few yards in front of Takeshi. She looked behind her and saw him, her eyes widened and her face displayed her new found determination.

"Takeshi, get back!" She shouted, worried for the young man.

Lulu suddenly bolted towards her with immense speed. She quickly slashed at Ruby, knocking crescent rose from her hands. Lulu slashed Ruby a few times in the chest and sent her flying backwards with a knee to the gut. Ruby landed at Takeshi's feet, her crimson aura shimmered around her body, signalling it had weakened.

Takeshi looked down at the young girl and helped her onto her feet. He then began walking towards Lulu. Ruby shouted after him.

"No, wait!" Ruby called after him.

Takeshi turned around with a massive smile on his face and a thumbs up. "I told you Ruby, I'm from Osten. I know that you don't know much about that country, which means I'm setting the standards of my people here… and I want those standards to be good."

"B-but, you're not a fighter!"

Takeshi ignored her and walked towards Lulu. "Hey, how are you? That's one interesting aura you got there, just where is that dark presence coming from?"

Lulu sighed. "Who are you? Bah, you aren't on my kill list, I'll deal with you another time."

As Lulu finished her words, she bolted towards Takeshi and leapt over him, knives trained on Ruby. Lulu came down hard onto Ruby, who was able to step back at the last second. She began a flurry of attacks onto the girl. Ruby leapt backwards and readied her rifle. Lulu quickly leapt after her.

Suddenly, however, Lulu felt a sharp pain across her chest, in a line. She was sent hurtling forward, blood spewing from the large gash on her back. Lulu hit the ground and skipped across it, flying past Ruby into a pillar that supported the bridge above them. Ruby watched her fly by in shock, she slowly turned her head back and saw Takeshi. He was holding a sword and had his arm straight out, like he had just slashed something.

"I told you," He said, dropping his arm and walking towards Lulu, who laid still on the ground in a growing puddle of blood. "I am a warrior of Osten, I understand it means very little to you, but… I WILL CHANGE THAT!"

XXX XXX XXX


	6. V1 Ch6 Hostiles

Fern walked around, examining the jacket that Lance wore. They had met up in their usual training grounds in the Emerald forest. Fern was astounded by the clothing.

"Where did you learn about these markings?" Fern asked, studying the markings of dust on the sleeves with his fingers .

Lance shrugged. "I just read up on them."

"Don't you know what they do?" Fern questioned. Lance shook his head causing Fern to sigh. "Of course you don't. Those markings allow the dust to travel easier through the cloth and increase the power of your attacks, but just remember that the dust isn't unlimited, you'll have to resew it eventually."

"So how do I use it?" Lance asked, eager to test his new project out.

"Well the fire one should be controllable with your aura. The earth dust requires you to touch the surface you are casting it onto, then you can send it out."

Lance held out his right hand and began to concentrate, a small flame suddenly appeared in his hand. He smiled and looked at Fern.

"So am I a natural or what?" He said with a grin.

"Well done, but you haven't even come close to scratching the surface of fire dust," Fern said, grinning.

"What else is there to know? I summon it and shoot fireballs at the bad guys," Lance said.

"Fire dust is a powerful dust type, being only rivaled by lightning dust for destructive power." Fern reached into his back pouch and pulled out some viales of dust. "I'm still learning about those two, I used to research them a lot."

"What happened?" Lance asked.

"I stopped. Dust is a powerful tool, but a Dust Mage who can master those two could take on an army."

Lance grinned and looked down at the small flame. He was ready to learn more about his dust and how to use it effectively. He eagerly looked at Fern.

"What can you show me?" Lance asked, grin widening.

"Later, for now you need nothing but combat training," Fern answered.

"I need to train with this jacket!" Lance whined.

Fern sighed. "Fine, train all you want, I'll see you tomorrow."

XXX XXX XXX

Lulu sighed and cracked her neck. "I really didn't want to fight serious, but I guess I have to."

She leapt towards Takeshi and slashed at him with her knives. Takeshi blocked the attack with his blade, then leapt away. Lulu charged him and Takeshi flipped over her, slashing at her back. Lulu was able to spin around and block the attack. Takeshi stabbed at her, but Lulu caught his blade with her knives. She held the blade still, making sure not to let it move.

Suddenly Ruby came flying in and cut at Lulu with her scythe. Lulu pushed Takeshi away and spun around to block the incoming attack. She was too late and the scythe hit her in the chest. Lulu staggered back as her aura absorbed the blow. She glared at the two and closed her eyes.

Suddenly her aura began to manifest outside of her body, forming multiple arms. These arms came equipped with a knife for each arm, resulting in six aura arms to sprout from Lulu's side. Lulu smirked and charged back into battle.

"This is my mighty semblance, Mutate!" She shouted, hacking away at the two.

Takeshi began blocking the knives as they came towards him. Four of her arms were focused on Takeshi and the others on Ruby. The knives were like a swarm, each cutting at their enemy with rapid speed. Ruby was having trouble keeping up and was eventually overwhelmed, being struck numerous times in the chest. Ruby stumbled backwards and Lulu saw her chance.

Lulu used all four arms and swung at Takeshi. Knowing he couldn't block it, Takeshi leapt backwards, dodging the attack. As soon as Takeshi had leapt away, Lulu bolted towards Ruby, using all eight blades to strike her. Ruby's aura was broken, the crimson aura shimmered around her body as three of the knives entered her flesh. Ruby had been stabbed three times in the side, upper chest, and shoulder.

Lulu yanked the knives out and Ruby collapsed immediately. Takeshi witnessed this and his eyes widened in shock.

"Ruby!" He shouted.

Takeshi leapt towards Lulu and brought his blade down over his head. Lulu raised her real arm to block it, but the blade slashed right through her flesh, severing her arm. Lulu howled in pain and staggered back.

"Your semblance has a massive flaw!" Takeshi readied his blade again. "You're not just using offensive aura, but your regular defensive aura. In short, while your offensive skills rise, your defensive is lowered massively, allowing me to cut straight through you!"

Takeshi sent his blade hurtling forward, stabbing at Lulu's chest. Lulu brought down her aura arms and tried to block the attack yet again. Takeshi's attack was blocked, but he forced Lulu to slide away on her feet from the force of his attack. Takeshi twirled his sword around and rushed her. Lulu slashed at him and he ducked, swiping her side with his blade.

Takeshi cut at Lulu's back, but she spun around and blocked the attack. Takeshi charged her again, ducking from her attack and countering. He continued this process for some time. Finally Lulu grew enraged, she leapt away, trying to gain distance.

Takeshi refused to let her move, he cut at her again and again. Lulu blocked the few attacks she could, but Takeshi was landing a great amount of strikes on her. Finally Takeshi brought his sword above his head and slammed it down. Lulu deactivated her semblance and stopped the attack with one arm. She panted and coughed up blood. Her body was covered in blood and her crimson aura shimmered, trying to heal her.

"So, this is the power of a warrior from that small village, what was it's name again?" Lulu asked, struggling to push against Takeshi's blade.

"Osten and I doubt you'll last much longer, give up!" Takeshi shouted.

"I suppose you are correct in that matter, but like you, I'm not alone in this fight, Fin!" She shouted.

Suddenly a man leapt from behind Lulu, he stabbed his rapier down at Takeshi as he landed. Takeshi pushed Lulu back and leapt away. The man's face was masked and he was dressed in all black tactical clothing. Takeshi leapt towards him and swung his dadao sword. Fin barely moved and Takeshi was sent flying away.

Takeshi hit the ground and collapsed, sliding to a stop. He struggled to stand and Fin took this time to strike. In the blink of an eye, Fin was upon Takeshi, blade ready to pierce him.

"Interesting how someone like you could take care of Lulu like that, but this is where you die, boy." Fin said, his voice refined and calm.

Fin thrusted his blade down, but it was suddenly stopped by a long sword. Fin's red eyes widened in surprise and they followed the long sword's blade to its owner. Bronze pushed against the rapier, stopping it from entering Takeshi. He pressed a button on his hilt and the blade of his sword began to glow white. Bronze slashed at Fin, their two blades collided. Fin pushed against Bronze's mighty long sword. Realizing Bronze had the upper hand in physical strength, Fin pushed Bronze back and leapt away.

Fin felt his sword take on a new weight. He looked down at his blade and was surprised to see it covered in ice. Bronze suddenly snapped his blade down onto Fin's, shattering the rapier. Bronze then swung at Fin, the man stepped out of the way.

"That was a smart move boy, but I have some questions to ask," Fin said. He raised his arm and Lulu threw her knife into it. Fin examined the short blade. "Not exactly my style, but it will do. Now for my questions, who are you and who is your friend?"

Bronze didn't say a word, he instead charged Fin. He slashed at him, but Fin easily blocked the attack with his knife.

"I see, not a very cooperative person are you?" Fin calmly asked.

"Unfortunately not!" Bronze said, shoving Fin away. Bronze raised his blade and held it pointed at Fin.

Suddenly the blade began to glow. A white light came flying from the blade, shooting across the ground and striking Fin in the chest. The man was sent flying by the energy. Bronze smirked and rushed after Fin, whom had hit the ground, but was able to recover with haste.

"Interesting attack, semblance? Fin guessed.

"Yeah, something I don't like using in fights. My semblance, Final Shot!" Bronze shouted, still rushing towards Fin.

Bronze swung at Fin and pressed the button on his hilt. Fin dodged the blade and it struck the ground, leaving a trail of ice. Bronze brought his arm around and unleashed a barrage onto Fin, pushing himself to his absolute limit. Bronze filled the barrage with fast moving attacks of steel and ice, mixing in his Shot semblance occasionally. Frost formed around the two as Fin either dodged or block the few attacks he couldn't escape from.

Finally, Fin felt the need to finish his mission. He ended Bronze's barrage with minimum effort. Jabbing the boy in the gut with the hilt of his knife, slashing his chest several times, and striking his shoulder, sent Bronze into the air. Bronze flew back and hit the ground, skipping across it like a stone tossed at water. He finally hit a pillar of the bridge above them and came to a sudden stop.

Fin smirked underneath his mask, he twirled the knife in his hand and began walking towards Bronze's limp body. The man placed his foot down onto Bronze's back and raised the knife.

Suddenly pillars of rock came flying at Fin's back. Fin spun around and swiped them into pieces with his knife. He looked at his new opponent, This time it was someone he did know.

"Ah, so nice of you to finally join us Mr Sage," Fin said, smiling under his mask. Lance glared at Fin, his arms crossed. Lance cracked his neck and began walking forward. His determined blue eyes peered into Fin's scarlet red ones that almost seemed to glow. The young male clapped his hands together and began to sprint. Fin smirked under the black mask. "What's this? Some form of magic?"

The markings on Lance's arms suddenly lit up. Lance stuck both hands out and a rock materialized in his palm. This rock was surrounded by fire that orbited the stone with intense speed. He then launched the flaming stone at Fin, who dodged it with ease.

"Some dust contraption in those sleeves?" Fin charged Lance and swung at him.

Lance raised his right hand and his flame symbol flashed, fire appeared in his hand and he sent a blast of it at Fin. The man stepped back as the torrent of flames, that flew from Lance's hand, flew past him. Fin swiftly jabbed Lance in the side causing the boy to stagger back.

"Ah, so you learned the art of dust infused clothing?" Fin asked. Fin charged Lance again, but this time Lance held up his hands to guard himself, ready to use his dust. Fin side stepped at the least second, this fake out caused Lance to send another torrent onto where Fin once stood.

Kicking Lance in the back, Fin cut his chest with the knife. Fin grabbed Lance's right arm and pulled it behind his back. Lance was forced to the ground by Fin, who then pinned him.

"Keep taking massive leaps and bounds, soon you'll be a worthy opponent. For now, I must bid you a farewell," Fin said. "I'll be seeing you soon, Lance Sage."

Lance struggled against Fin, but an idea came to him. Placing his left hand on the ground, Lance sent aura through his left arm, activating the dust in his sleeve.

"Why not finish things here?" Lance cockily asked.

A pillar of stone flew from the ground. It slammed into Fin's side and forced him to release Lance as he was ejected off the boy. Lance quickly scurried to his feet. He spun around and Lance swept at the air. His symbol on hi right sleeve illuminated and a wave of flames flew from his hand.

This new force of fire was different from before, Lance had increased the intensity and power of the flames. Fire raced towards Fin, who was recovering from the last attack. Fin quickly hurried to dodge the flames, for even he couldn't withstand the force of the fire.

As the wave of fire engulfed Fin, Lance wondered if he had done it, beaten an enemy that even Bronze couldn't conquer. As the flames erupted into an explosion, Lance hoped he had succeeded. Unfortunately his hopes were shattered as a man leapt from the flames. Fin stood straight, his blood red aura shimmering around his body. Lance stood there, in awe and fatigued from

"That was well played, boy," Fin said, walking towards Lance. "I almost actually faltered in those fires of hell you thrusted unto me."

Lance went to use his fire again, but suddenly Fin was in front of him. Fin thrusted the knife at Lance with great speed. Lance shut his eyes and waited for the blade to pierce him, but instead of immense pain, he heard the sound of fabric tearing. Fin's knife tore through the symbol on Lance's right arm, cutting it in two.

Lance's eyes grew as he saw this. The boy flipped backwards, trying to gain distance. He then went to place his hand onto the ground beneath him, but Fin was suddenly right in front of him again.

"I know the rules of dust chemistry!" Fin shouted, cutting at Lance, who was forced to retract his hand and dodge the attack. Fin stood straight again and pointed the blade at Lance. "You can't morph the ground, unless you touch it and I just severed the dust in your right arm, stopping you from using anymore fire."

Fin launched towards Lance, furiously hacking away at the boy. Lance did his best to dodge the high speeds, but with no weapon it made it difficult. Lance ducked, narrowly dodging the blade again. He tried to place his hand on the ground, but Fin sent his knee into Lance's face. Lance staggered backwards and Fin leapt towards him, slashing his torso.

To gain distance, Lance leapt away from the barrage that Fin was inflicting. The two then stared at each other, Lance wondering what to do and Fin wondering if Lance would go on the offensive.

"Boy, I can't kill you, but I can wound you rather severely!" Fin rushed towards Lance again.

Suddenly an idea popped into Lance's mind, something that Fern had showed him during their training. Lance clapped both his hands together and focused his aura. The symbol on his left arm began to glow, but the one on his back did as well. Something began to form in the hands of the teen, it was metal. A sharp and shining blade of iron soon began to morph in his hands. Fin's crimson red eyes widened in pure shock at the blade that Lance now held. Lance raised the sword and aimed it at Fin.

"Your plan to rid me of my flames was a flawed one, in targeting my right arm's dust symbol, you left me with my earth dust!" Lance calmly explained. " _And_ the air dust on my back! If you know about dust chemistry then you surely know that, if mixed together in the right portions, air and earth dust make iron, which I can then morph into any object I want!"

Lance charged Fin, who was still in awe. He brought the blade over his head and sent it down. Fin frantically went to block the attack, raising his knife over his head. The two blades collided and the sound of metal against metal rang throughout the area around them. Fin pushed the blade up and kicked Lance in the gut.

"Foolish boy, while impressive that you learn so quickly, how will that blade help you? You're fighting me!" Fin shouted.

Fin shot toward Lance like a bullet, arriving at Lance's side in the blink of an eye. Fin slashed Lance's ribs, piercing his aura and the jacket. Blood dripped from the wound as Lance swung his blade at Fin, who blocked it with his own. Fin held nothing back, furiously slashing away at Lance. The man spun the teen around and ripped through the symbol on his back and kicked him in the spine.

"Now die!" Fin shouted, hurling his knife arm forward into Lance's back.

Suddenly something stopped the knife. A man stood behind Lance, two arming swords were in both hands and they both were holding the knife back. Fern sighed and looked back at Lance, who was in shock.

"All that work into your jacket, only for it to be destroyed. You really are a moron," Fern disapprovingly said. "I knew you would go pick a fight somewhere, just can't believe how powerful your opponent is."

Fin tilted his head. "Who are you?"

Fern shoved Fin away with his duel blades. Fern leapt towards the man and slashed at him with both his swords. Fin knocked them both away and heaved his knife to Fern's gut. Fern swiftly caught the knife with both blades. The Fern smiled at Fin and the other man did the same under his mask.

"My name is Fern, I am currently the teacher of this child," Fern explained.

"Ah Fern, I have heard many stories of you," Fin said.

Fern cocked an eyebrow. "You know of me?"

"Yes. I wished I could test your skill of combat, but now is not the time. That being said." Fin yanked his knife back and, with swift movement, cut into Fern's arm. Fern's green aura absorbed the damage, but he was thrown off balance. Fin grabbed Fern and throw him to the ground. "Farewell Fern, I hope we may meet on the battlefield again."

Fern hit the ground and immediately rolled onto his feet, aiming both blades at Fin. Two symbols on each sleeves illuminated and sparks began to collect on the blades. Fern unleashed the lightning, its yellow bolts curving around as they stretched off the blade and unleashed a crack of thunder. Both bolts struck Fin in the chest, sending him back.

Fin landed on his feet a few yards from Fern. The two stared each other down, but Fin spun around and hurdled the knife at Lance. The boy had no time to react to the knife as it flew in at high speeds. Lucky for Lance, he didn't have to. Fern was in front of Lance in the blink of an eye and had knocked the knife from the air.

Fern's gaze was set back onto Fin, but he and Lulu had vanished. He sighed and sheathed both his blades. Fern turned around and gazed among the four students that littered the area around them, his eyes saw Ruby and they widened. He rushed over to her and frantically picked her up.

"Lance, I'm going to take Ruby to Beacon to treat her injuries, gather the rest of your team and put an end to this!" Fern ordered. He then leapt away, carrying the injured girl with him.

Lance watched his teacher leave and then looked around. He saw Bronze, who was still unconscious, and he saw a teen he had yet to met. Lance continued scanning the area around him. He saw the rest of team RWBY and Iron still doing battle with the massive robot and Silver and Neo looked as if they were just begging their battle.

"Hey!" Lance called out to the other teen. The male looked over and pointed at himself in confusion. "I'm going to help fight that robot, can you help my friend?"

Takeshi nodded and raced off. Lance set his gaze onto the robot and clenched his blade. He held up his right arm and stared at the torn symbol, he wanted to try and use it so badly, but the risk was too great. Having the symbol torn makes the dust unstable and hard to control, one of the downsides to the style of sewing dust that Lance used. He sighed, knowing he had a blade of iron and some dust in his left sleeve, Lance charged into battle.

XXX XXX XXX


End file.
